Mysteries of a Silver Locket
by LordOfTheFail
Summary: A story of Saru and her group of friends' adventures through high school in Karakura town, and eventually, through Soul Society. I suck at summaries. xD Rated T for language and suggestive themes. Possible title change. Reviews would also be appreciated.
1. High school is going to be hell

I suppose I've never really been a normal teenager. I can't remember anything that may have happened during the first eight years of my life... No parents, no sbilings, not where I may have lived before... Nothing. I now live in this place called Karakura Town, which is where I met my best friend Selena Innu. You'll learn more about her later, though. I think maybe you should know something more about me, Saru. One interesting fact about me: I have some strange abilities, and because of that, I can see spirits and shinagami as well. I also get into a bit of trouble... particularly with my witch of a math teacher. As for my 'special' abilities, my element is fire. I have a certain ability which includes the breaking down and reassembly of molecules. I suppose the simple, more science-fiction term would be teleporting. My eyes change color with certain emotions, and I admittedly have a bit of a temper at times.

Full Name: Saruwatari Itoe

Nicknames: Saru, Space Case, Space Cadet

Height: 5'10 (in the beginning)

Weight: 125 lbs

Age: 14 (at the start of the story)

Appearance: Waist length jet black hair, ice blue eyes, but eye color changes with certain emotions, wears a small silver locket around her neck (the only piece of her missing past she has), later in the story, a small red, rose tattoo on the back of her neck along with other various unnamed tattoos

Personality: A generally nice person, a bit sarcastic and a bit of a smartass. She's got a mouth that tends to get her into trouble… A LOT.

Friends: Selena Innu, Shirouku (Shiko) Inaku, Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, Shikaku Inaku

**Chapter 1: High school is going to be hell.**

"Come, Selena! Hurry up! It is our first day of high school, and my intention wasn't being late for class! I was planning on walking with the others today, too!" Saru called up the steps. Selena had a habit of taking her time when it comes to getting ready for school... or really anything, for that matter. Selena was always late to stuff, at least when she had to get there herself.

"Shut up, Saru. I'm coming. Be patient." Selena replied, though her voice didn't sound any closer to her.

"You know, you're keeping dear Shiko waiting for you when you procrastinate like this." Saru called with a smirk. She was certain that Selena liked the orange-haired brother of another of their close friends, Shikaku.

It seemed that got Selena's attention, which was Saru's intention. Suddenly, rushed footsteps we heard above. There was the slamming of the bathroom door, what sounded like Selena tripping over her own feet, then the slam of the second door as Selena came running down the steps. She then grabbed Saru's arm, pulling her out the door.

"Bye, Kyoko!" Saru called, pulling the door shut behind them. "All right, let my arm go, Selena. You're going to pull the damn thing off." She replied, jerking her arm out of Selena's grasp and rubbing it a bit. She ahd to admit, Selena had a pretty good grip.

Soon, their group of friends came walking up the sidewalk. Selena and Saru walked to meet them, melding in with the group.

"You guys almost didn't make it again." Ichigo said with a smirk.

"Selena was screwing around again." Saru said, shaking her head with the roll of her eyes. "Big surprise, right?"

"You can't ever get anywhere on time, can you?" He said, now looking to her.

"Shut it, Strawberry." Selena replied, crossing her arm over her chest. She really didn't care that he was insulting her inability to get anywhere on time. She just wanted to call him Strawberry to annoy him.

A vein popped in Ichigo's forehead and Selena began to laugh. "My name is roughly translates into one protector." He replied, now crossing his arms.

"But strawberry is so much better.. it's actually 'One Guardian Angel.' You also don't look much like a protector crossing your arms like that. It makes you look like a girl." Selena replied with a smirk.. Saru, Shiko and Shikaku began to laugh.

Ichigo's eye twitched, but he said nothing.

"Aw, come on, Ichigo. We're just messing around." Shiko smiled, slapping Ichigo on the back. "Lighten up, "Mr. Protector.""

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" He snorted with his usual scowl. "Let's just get to school on time…" Ichigo muttered, continuing the walk to school. The others followed as the group trudged to their first day of high school. Saru looked at Orihime, who had been surprisingly quiet. She was honestly somewhat concerned. Orihime was never silent.

"Orihime… is there something wrong…?" Saru asked, glancing to Orihime with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh no. I was just thinking about this dream I had last night where I was a fight robot with rockets and and lots of weapons and I fought this other robot and it blew up half the city andthenIchigocameinandhewasarobottoo…" Saru tilted her head in confusion, trying to figure out what Orihime had been trying to say. It didn't seem possible, though, because the further Orihime got into her explanation, the more high pitched her voice got and the more the words ran together.

" Ookay… then… Glad to hear you're all right…." She replied with a smile, though clearly confused.

As they had neared the entrance of the school, Selena looked around to see quite a few mean looking upperclassmen.

"W-wow…. There are a quite a few mean looking people at this school." Selena said quietly, occasionally glancing over to see if anyone was actually watching them. In reality, they probably weren't, but it felt like they were to her. Selena had admittedly been a bit nervous over starting high school.

"They don't look so tough." Ichigo snorted.

"I have a feeling high school is going to be hell…" Saru muttered to herself. Maybe not hell. She may have over-exaggerated on that a bit... but, it wasn't going to be easy... especially if that pervert Ihiro still attended the same school.


	2. Ihiro Uzaki get slapped

As the group entered the high school, they received a few devilish looks from a few of the upperclassmen. Neither Shiko or Shikaku payed any mind to it, while, on the other hand, Orihime and Selena looked a bit, well, frightened. As expected, Ichigo and Saru were returning those looks while keeping Selena and Orihime moving forward. 'What a lovely way to start high school.' Saru thought wih a slight sigh.

"I hate these freakin' skirts." Saru muttered to herself, glancing down to her uniform with the twitch of her left eye.

"I have to agree with you there. Seriously, what are they trying to do to the girls that have to wear these things?" Selena said with the shake of her head.

"Personally, I like the skirts." A male voice seemed to be nearing from behind. The smirk the three of them knew was plastered on his face seemed to drip from his tone. Saru knew all to well who it was, and was not in the mood to put up with him. She never was though, to be honest.

"Pervert." Saru now turned to face the dark-haired, brown eyed annoyance coming to stop before them. Selena soon murmured something to Orihime, who frowned, but nodded and headed off to her first period. Selena turned as Saru had a moment before, and rolled her eyes. She honestly didn't like this Ihiro much either, but Saru had never liked him, even through grade school, and secondary school.

"No... I'm just one who enjoys... 'sight seeing', if you will." He replied, his smirk widening.

Saru's eye twitched slightly. The urge to slap him was strong, but she resisted for the moment. "Why are you so annoying? And why it is me that usually has to listen to that irritating little voice of yours?" It wasn't always her, but ever since she gave him a pretty good tongue lashing back in grade five, he didn't seem to want to leave her alone. Since then, she couldn't count the number of times she'd yelled at him or slapped him. Each time, it was due to him provoking her. She wouldn't speak to him if she could help it, much less knowingly be near him.

"Oh, you're just so fun to annoy." He said with a smirk. "And you're quite spunky. You know, I think that's a good thing in a girl.. It's rumored that that gives a pretty good indication of what they're like in bed... So, if that's true, I'd say you'd be a good lay."

The urge to slap Ihiro was now too much to resist. Her eyes narrowed as she pulled her hand back and slapped him hard across the face. A loud 'smack' was heard upon her hand making contact with his cheek. "Why are you so damned annoying?! You know, I bet you're gay or something, to be this much of a pervert! You're just trying to cover it up by hitting on girls with crude pick-up lines and bad jokes!" She yelled, her eye twitching again. Usually it took her much, much longer to get this annoyed with the perverted bastard, but her tolerance for stupid was quite low today.

"You're only proving my point." He replied, putting a hand to his cheek. A hand print was already beginning to show when her hand had come in contact with his flesh.

"You're stupid, Ihiro." Selena said, looking to him, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Saru... We should head to class now... We're going to be late for first period, and I honestly don't know if I would stop you from beating him to a bloody pulp in the middle of the hallway." She laid a hand on Saru's shoulder.

"Good idea." She replied, her eye twitching slightly. The two soon turned away from him, and headed down to their lockers.

"Come on, man... Was that totally necessary? One of these days, she will end up doing more than just a hard slap to the side of your face." Shikaku said, now stepping in front of Ihiro, mainly to block his view of Saru. Shikaku wasn't necesscarily friends with him, but they used to hang around sometimes. He knew him well enough to know that he would be watching both Saru and Selena walk back down the hallway.

"I thought it was. Besides, both of them are hot." Ihiro grinned in a suggestive manner. "That Orihime chick is, too. I would go for the other two, but Saru's usually with the Selena girl, and Orihime with them. Even I'm not dumb enough to do that." He said with the shake of his head.

"Why don't you just lay off a bit?" Shikaku said with a sigh.

"Who's going to make me?" Ihiro smirked, now taking a step forward toward Shikaku with the intent of intimidating him.

But Shikaku stood his ground. He wasn't the least bit intimidated. Though he didn't have any fighting experience, he was fairly sure he could take on someone like Ihiro if the time came to it. "... Just because I don't fight, doesn't mean I won't..." He replied with a grin. And with that, he turned on his heel, and heading toward his own locker. Ichigo and Shiko just looked at each with an eyebrow raised, and headed to their own lockers. Ihiro was left in the middle of the hallway, smirking. "Looking forward to seeing it, then, Pansy Boy."


	3. Lunch Period Kiss

Somehow, all of them managed to get to class on time, even with a bit of time to spare. Saru had chosen a seat in the back corner of the room. It was the perfect spot to look out the window and daydream about whatever may come to mind at the time. It was also a good spot to see who was in her class. She saw a few she recognized from secondary school, a few new faces, and some close friends. Shikaku, Shiko, Orihime, and sadly, Ihiro, were all in the same first period. With an aggravated groan, Saru rested her elbow on her desk and her head in her open palm, turning her head to stare out the window. If she had to deal with that stupid pervert for at least an hour a day, she could at least daydream through the majority of it.

"Already at the daydreaming, Space Case?" A familiar voice jolted her from her thoughts, nearly causing her to fall out of her desk.

"I guess so. If I have to have a class with that bastard," She was clearly referring to Ihiro, "Then I may as well distract myself from his obnoxious presence while I can."

"He is pretty annoying, I guess.... I don't think he'll really be messing with Orihime or Selena though, which is good.." He said with a smile.

"Good, because if he did that, I really would have to beat him to a blood pulp.." She muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'm kind of surprised none of the instructors noticed me slapping a classmate in the hallway thought..." She said with an eyebrow raised. "Though that's definitely a good thing for me..." She chuckled, smirking slightly. She probably would have gotten suspended or something, and that would not have made Kyoko happy."

"I guess it was..." He replied with a laugh, but soon their instructor entered the room, which effectively ended their conversations. Students scattered to their seats as the he introduced himself as Amada-Sensei, welcoming us to year nine biology, blah blah blah. It was the same thing, just a new year and a different class. Soon, he began to take roll. Saru decided to stay focused, at least for a few minutes to allow roll to be taken.

"Shikaku Inaku."

"Here"

"Shirouku Inaku."

Snickers could be heard around the room, all at the sound of Shiko's full name. "Here." Shiko replied with a groan. He hated his full name as much as Saru hated her own. Not many people actually knew his full name, unless they had been in his class at one point or another.

"Selena Innu."

"Here."

"Orihime Inoue."

"Here!"

"Saruwatari Itoe."

"Here." She replied, also with a groan. Again, there were a few giggles but the loudest laughter came from Ihiro, who seemed to enjoy her being annoyed.

After her name had been called, Saru allowed her thoughts to wander once again. It seemed it was really just random subjects. Nothing really meaningful popped into her head. She continued this meaningless daydreaming for about half the period, until she noticed a spilt in the sky. She raised a brow, now clearing her thoughts. 'It has to one of those hollow things... With the white masks.' She thought. Soon enough, a hollow came through the open hole. Her eyes widened slightly and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shikaku and Ichigo's eyes widen slightly. It seemed as if Ichigo was about to jump out of his seat... but as if on cue, a shinigami with crimson hair tied up in a ponytail, came from the left and drew his zanpakto, slicing through the hollow's mask with ease. Ichigo, Shikaku and Saru consecutively breathed a sigh of relief, earning them a couple of glances from our classmates and a raised brow from instructor. The event was soon old news as the period passed. The second period bell soon rang and the students all hurried to their lockers then to their second period classes.

Second period started out painfully slow. Luckily, Selena, Shiko, and Shikaku all ended up in her second period, too. She honestly despised math and hoped she would actually understand it. Soon after class began, Saru resumed the 'zoned out' position with her head in her hand and her elbow on her desk. She couldn't look out the window, or at least get a decent view, because this classroom was facing toward the building beside the school. She was unintentionally staring off in Shikaku's direction. She hadn't even given this instructor time to take attendance before she began to lose herself in thought. Before she knew it, her name was being called.

"Saruwatari Itoe." Ahashi-Sensei called. She paused, waiting for a response. "Saruwatari Itoe." She repeated, this time with a bit of agitation in her tone.

"... What...? Oh, here." She replied, rubbing the back of her neck a bit.

"Mrs. Itoe. Would you care to explain why you were staring at Mr. Inaku?" She question, raising a brow and looking to Saru. Shikaku raised a brow a bit. He knew she wasn't staring. She was just spacing out. That was just who Saru was. Selena, on the other hand, looked to her with an amused smirk. Shiko wasn't paying much attention himself.

"I wasn't staring......" She replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "If that's really any of your business.." She muttered under her breath after a moment."

The instructor, who's name she vaguely remembered hearing, raised a brow. She seemed a bit surprised that anyone would actually respond to her in such a manner. "Young lady, such disrespect will not be tolerated in this classroom. Seeing as though it is in fact your first day, I shall let it slide, but let's not have it happen again. Am I clear?"

"Hai. Gomenasi, Ahashi-Sensei." She muttered, looking off to the side. That was just plain embarrassing for her. That stupid witch of a teacher seemed to have it out for her on the first day. 'Oh, this is lovely... Math is going to suck.' She thought with a sigh. Again, second period droned on. After what seemed to be an eternity, the thrid period bell rang. For Saru, it was off to physical education.

After everyone had changed into the gym uniforms provided by the school (the boys got pants while the girls had shorts), the class was lead out onto the school field where, sadly, they would all be playing soccer, both the boys and the girl's class together. Saru wasn't a big fan of soccer... but, seeing as though Ihiro happened to be in her class, she figured she could have a bit of fun with him. The game soon began, and soon afterward, Saru saw her opportunity to screw with the little bastard. The ball had been passed to her and Ihiro was on her team. She had good aim with the ball, despite being pretty clumsy and usually tripping over her own feet when she ran with it. This was something she used to her advantage. "Hey, Uzaki!" She called to Ihiro. He looked in her direction and readied himself to receive the kick. Saru pulled her foot back and kicked the ball as hard as she could, hoping she could get enough air under the ball to hit him in the head.

The pervert's eyes widened as the ball surprisingly came straight toward his head. Before he had time to duck, the ball hit him square in the face. The ball bounced off of his face and went into the goal. The goalie could have blocked the "shot" easily, but he was too busy laughing, just as everyone else on the field, excluding the gym teacher. He didn't seem to suspect anything more than an accident.

"Agh, what the hell, Itoe?" Ihiro said, now glaring at her. The hand print was once vaguely visible, but now, due to the soccer ball hitting his face, only the red mark left by the ball impacting his face was seen. His face actually looked like one giant red mark now. "If you're trying to get with me, this is one weird way to flirt." A smirk ghosted his lips, but he was still obviously irritated.

The glory of this moment for her over-powered his weak comment about 'trying to get with her'. She couldn't care less at the moment. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ihiro. I didn't mean it. It was an accident." She frowned slightly, feigning concern quite well.

"Calm down, Uzaki. It was an accident. And watch your language or it's detention." Akai-Sensei said, now shooting a glare in his direction. "Inaku, get him to the clinic. Make sure his nose isn't broken."

"Right." Shikaku nodded, helping Ihiro up. "What did I tell you, dude?" He said to him as they walked in, grinning teasingly. "I told you she'd do something more than just a slap to the face."

"Shut up." He muttered, rubbing the side of his head.

After PE had come to an end, there was lunch. Selena, Shiko, Shikaku, Ichigo, Orihime, Saru, and even Ichigo's wannabe womanizer friend, Keigo, headed up to the roof with their lunched.

"So, Ichigo, who are the two hotties?", Keigo asked, nudging Ichigo. He'd tried something with Orihime before, but that really didn't go well. For his health, he decided not to try that again.

"That's Saru, and that's Selena…." Ichigo pointed to the both of them as he introduced them, sighing afterward.

Keigo came up next to Saru, making at attempt at acting cool. It wasn't working to say the least. "So, Saru.... Are you looking for a man? Because there's one right beside you, and his name is Keigo Asano."

Saru sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, not interested."

"Aw, that's a shame... but what about you, Selena? Lookin' for anyone?" Keigo now moved over to Selena, acting "cool". He thought he was anyway.

"No thank you." Selena replied politely, smiling.

"I bet they're just playing hard to get." Keigo muttered to Ichigo, nudging him again. "Give it time."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Don blame me when you get your ass kicked." He muttered.

When the group reached the roof tops, they separated into two groups: boys on the left, girls on the right.

"So... Shikaku, I've heard that Saru likes you..." Shiko said, looking to his brother with a grin.

"... Really?" He replied, raising a brow. He acted like it was simply a piece of lunchtime gossip, but he actually cared. To be honest, he liked Saru himself.

"I heard something about it somewhere... " Shiko replied with a shrug, shoving a bit of rice into his mouth. In truth, he'd talked to Selena about it before school started at some point, but he just now decided to mention it.

"Do you like her...?" Ichigo asked with a mouth full of rice, quirking a brow.

"She's a nice girl." He replied. He didn't say yes or no because one: the girls could most likely hear their conversations, that is, if they tired to listen, and two: if Saru did like him and she heard him say he didn't like her, that could ruin whatever chance he had with her. He didn't want that.

"That sounds like a yes to me." Shiko replied with a grin. "Then in that case, I say you go kiss her."

Now it was Shikaku's turn to quirk a brow. "... Uh, no. You can't just kiss a girl like that... Besides, I don't think she likes me in that sense of the word, even though you told me a couple of minutes ago that she does."

"Well, either that or we tell Ahashi-Sensei that you have a crush on her." Shiko grinned deviously, raising a brow. That was a low blow. He knew that. But he was determined to get his brother with Saru, even if it meant actually doing it.

Shikaku's eyes widened slightly. That definitely wasn't something he wanted either.

"It's your choice." Shiko continued to grin deviously while Keigo and Ichigo snickered quietly. They were both in on the whole sitaution, too.

"... Bastards." Shikaku sighed and stood up, making his way over to the girls.

_**Meanwhile, the girls were having a discussion of their own...**_

The girls were sitting down to eat their own lunches now. It seemed they all had something similar along with a juice box. Saru was already spaced out, staring off in some random direction. Her thoughts were, again, bouncing from subject to subject.

"Earth to Saru…" Selena was now waving a hand in front of Saru's face, sipping juice from her juice box. When Saru didn't respond, she spoke again. "Yo Saru."

"Huh…?" She glanced to Selena, blinking a few times as if to clear her thoughts.

"What were you thinking about…?" Selena questioned, quirking a brow with an amused smirk.

"Nothing in particular. Why?" Saru replied.

_"Bastards."_ The three glanced over to see Shikaku sighing and heading over to their side of the roof now.

"... Hey, it's not often he says something like that." Selena said, looking back to Saru and Orihime.

"The others must have said or done something dumb." Saru said with a shrug.

"I think he's heading over here." Orihime said, looking back toward Shikaku again.

Saru looked over it Shikaku's direction to discovered she was correct. He was heading toward her. He looked somewhat annoyed and even apologetic. He was still smiling, though. 'I wonder what this is about...'

"Eh, I'm really sorry about what I have to do, but I can promise that the other choice is way way way worse." Shikaku said as he kneeled in front of Saru. ".... Not that this is bad or anything.." He added quickly, "but I didn't want to do things this way. I hope you don't slap me afterward." Shikaku added teasingly, grinning.

Saru raised a brow, honestly wondering what Shikaku was talking about, but she didn't have much time to think about it. Soon, another pair of warm lips were pressed against her own. Her eyes widened and a dark blush immediately spread across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Shikaku stood and headed back to other side of the roof, muttering a stream of profanities one wouldn't expect to hear from him.


	4. Memories of the tattooed pineapple head

Chapter 4

**A/N: As you can see, chapter 3 was much, much longer then chapters 1 and 2, but that took a lot longer to write, so the updates may be every other day or something like that instead of everyday.**

**P.S: Bold **_**Italics **_**are flashbacks, just so you're not confused by that. **_**:D**_

**Chapter 4: Memories of the tattooed pineapple head**

Selena's POV:

As soon as the dismissal bell rang, I headed to Saru's locker to wait for her, when Shikaku came up to me.

"Hey, Selena… Have you seen Saru….?" Shikaku asked.

"No... Not since lunch… …. I came to her locker to wait for her so we could walk home, but I don't see any sign of her, but aren't you in her 6th period…?" I replied as Orihime walked by with Ichigo.

"Well, yeah, but she left the classroom so quickly I didn't get a chance to talk to her."

"Are you guys looking for Saru…?" Orihime asked, joining in the conversation.

I raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yeeess…. Why? Have you seen her…?"

Orihime nodded. "Yeah… we saw her leaving the school about 5 minutes ago…. She's probably home by now…"

"Yeah, I doubt she actually walked home…. She probably used her power…." Ichigo interjected. Shiko came up and joined the group.

"Hey, Selena, Ichigo, Orihime, Shikaku, Sa- Wait, where's Saru?" Shiko asked scratching his head.

"She left already….." Orihime interjected. "And she seemed kind of embarrassed…." Shikaku glared at Ichigo and Shiko.

"You bastards! Look what you made me do! I didn't want to embarrass her like that. She probably hates me now." Shikaku yelled, pointing at Shiko and Ichigo.

"Oo, picking up Saru's profane language are we…?" I taunted with a light smirk on my face.

I saw Shikaku's eyebrow twitched and I started laughing.

"I really don't think she would ever hate you though….. And you're the one who told her you though she was cute." I said smiling victoriously.

"Well, I- She- You…..You guys suck." He seethed, then turning and walking away. I thought for a moment as I watched him walk down the hall way. Maybe we had been a bit harsh. We all knew they liked each other… maybe even loved each other.

The four of us that remained walked out the front entrance of the school, Shiko, Ichigo, and Orihime talking, and me, completely absorbed in my thoughts, mainly focus on one person, the person walking beside me: Shiko Inaku. My mind began to wander back to Shiko's fiery orange hair, deep blue eyes, and laid back, class clown personality… not to mention he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met… along with his brother, Shikaku…

"Hey, Selena….." Shiko was poking me on the shoulder.

"Hm?"

"You just passed your house………"

My eyes widened as I began to blush. 'Smooth Selena, real smooth…' I scolded myself. "Well, I'll catch you guys later then…" I turned around, and headed back toward the house, my thoughts still completely focused on Shiko. I made my way up the stairs to Saru and mine's room to find Saru sitting on her bed and staring off into space with her earphones in. A small smirk came upon my face as an idea popped into my head. 'Heh heh, tackle time,' I though. I quietly crept over to where Saru was sitting, then jumped toward her, knocking her over on her side and me rolling over her, causing the both of us to fall off the bed, me on top of her, one earphones in and one out. From the earphones, I could hear 'By Myself' By Linkin Park. Personally, I think most of the music she listens to is trash, but I like Linkin Park.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR SELENA?!" Saru screamed from underneath me. I just smirked.

"That's what you get for spacing out, Space Case." I said with a sly smirk.

"I was thinking, goddamn it! Am I not allowed to think?!"

"Saru, watch your language! I can hear you from downstairs!" My mom called from downstairs.

"Gomen, Kyoko." Saru called down to my mother. "But Selena knocked me off the bed when I wasn't paying attention again!"

"Selena, quit doing that"

"Fine mom." I yelled.

Saru started laughing at me, which I hit her for.

"What the hell Selena!"

"Saru…" My mother warned, now standing in our doorway.

"Ah, Gomen. My bad." Saru said with a nervous smile. I smirked inwardly. I thought it was hilarious when she got caught cursing.

"Anyway, I came up to tell you two dinner is will be ready in about an hour and a half and your father won't be coming to dinner..."

"Okay mom… Wait, dad's not going to be at dinner again? Why?" I whined. Dad wasn't at dinner very much lately. It was that stupid job of his.

"You know very well why. He's working late again." Saru chimed in.

"Well anyway, I'll call you guys down when dinner's ready." My mom said, walking out the door.

"So, Saru, how was that kiss with Shikaku at lunch…." I asked. At that point I saw Saru's face turn bright red.

"I- Uh- Um- It was all right….."

"You loved it and you know it." I said grinning.

"N-No, I didn't…. It was okay….." Saru retorted. I can't believe she thought I wouldn't notice her constant staring. He's definitely a nice guy, but I've fallen for his brother, Shiko.

"You loved it and know it, so admit it!!" I yelled.

"Damn, fine. I did okay… I loved it, I love him!" Saru said, then suddenly froze as I grinned.

"Kuso!!" She swore. "Damn you Selena." Saru crossed her arms.

I started laughing. "Ha ha, got you…"

"Well, what about you and Shiko?" Saru asked with a smug smile.

"W-what about him?" I asked eyes wide. 'Damn…. I didn't think it was so obvious…."

"You like him, don't you? You stare at him sometimes, and you smile a lot when you're around him." Saru said smirking.

"W-well what about you? I bet most of your thoughts involve Shikaku. You blush when he talks to you or even smiles at you for that matter. You're shy around him… You can barely talk to him in complete sentences." I retorted with a sly smirk.

Saru was silent and I smiled triumphantly. 'Hah, got her this time.' Everyone in our little group knew that had feelings for each other, that is, except the both of them, of course. I think Shikaku would catch on to her liking him pretty quickly, but Saru wouldn't catch on for quite a while.

"Selena, Saru, dinner!" I heard my mom yell from the kitchen.

"Coming." We replied in unison.

**Saru's POV:**

After a terribly long dinner with Selena shooting me smug looks from across the table and her mom giving us weird looks when I'd shoot glares back to her, Selena and I headed back up to our room to do any homework we had, which was only math. I thought that was cruel for it being the first day of school.

"Man, I really hate that new math teacher." I said out loud, not really talking to anyone in general.

"Yeah, I would if I were you, too. That was pretty harsh pointing that out to the whole class like that." Selena agreed.

"I could sense something kind of dark about her, though… Like she knows what I am and doesn't like me for it…" I said sighing softly, fingering the locket around my neck.

I looked to see Selena's eyes widen slightly. "She couldn't possibly know that… "

"Actually it is….. Remember how I found out who I truly was…." I said as my voice trailed off.

_**As I walked home from an after school detention with my earphones in, I felt a strange presence coming up behind me. I quickly turned around, pausing the iPod and immediately getting into a defensive stance, only to find no one walking behind me. I shrugged, and resumed my regular walking pace, humming softly to the music as I walked along. As I neared home, I felt the same ominous presence behind me, and decided to lure it into the woods, in case it was required to fight. As I took of running for the direction, I was stopped by a Soul Reaper with crimson red hair that was tied up into a high, messy ponytail, and tribal tattoos all over his face and neck.**_

_"**Where do you think you're going, demon?" The red headed shinigami snarled.**_

_"**Who are you calling demon, pineapple?" I shot back, crossing my arms. No one calls me demon and gets away with it unscathed. "And I'm no demon."**_

_"**Shut up, demon. I don't take any lip from a little girl like you."**_

_"**I'm not a goddamn demon and I'm not little. I'm 14, for your information."**_

_"**Yeah, a little girl." A low growl escaped my lips as I felt my eyes begin to turn red.**_

_"**What do you want, Soul Reaper? You're wasting my time. My guardian is going to kill me if I'm late for dinner." I seethed, closing my eyes, attempting to calm down.**_

_"**Well, I'm here to take care of a hollow problem, but I suppose I could take care of a demon as well." He growled as he unsheathed his zanpakto. My eyes widened as the blade caught a glint of the sunlight.**_

_"**I don't know what the hell you're talking about! I'm not a demon!"**_

_"**Don't play dumb with me! I know what you are." The red haired shinigami spat.  
"You're Soul ribbon is black. You're a demon and you know it."**_

_"**What the hell is a soul ribbon, and I'm not a damn demon. I'm a human who can see spirit beings."**_

_**In a flash, the Shinigami had the tip of his zanpakto at my neck.**_

_"**I suppose I should double check that you are a demon before killing you. I would be in deep shit with my Captain if I killed a human for no reason." The Shinigami said smugly, while momentarily closing his eyes. At that moment, any of my life that I could remember flashed before my eyes. Tears welled in my eyes as I though about Selena and Shikaku. 'I'm so sorry Selena… I'm sorry I won't be around long enough to go high school together … go to prom, to get into trouble like we had so elaborately planned…'A single tear slid down my right cheek . ' And Shikaku…I'm sorry I never got to tell you I Lo-'**_

_"**WHAT?! T-that can't b-be right……" The shinigami stammered, gawking at me. "That hasn't happened for centuries… and black and white spirit ribbon can only**_

_**mean one thing, but it can't be possible.." He muttered to himself while still gawking at me.**_

_"**What are you gawking at, you tattooed freak?!"I asked angrily.**_

_"**Y-you're a half blood….. "**_

_**End Flashback**_

"Yo, Saru…. Earth to Saru……." Selena said waving her hand in front of my face.

"Oh, yeah… What were we talking about?" I asked, somewhat dazed.

"You were remembering, weren't you?" Selena asked. I heard traces of actual concern in her voice.

"Yeah, and I saw the same pineapple-headed Soul Reaper take a hollow out during 1st period."

"Saru, that happened about 6 months ago… You think he'll try something else..?"

I shook my head. "Nah…. I don't think so…." I glanced at the clock to see it was already 10:30. "Oh wow, it's 10:30…"

"Oh crap, it is…. We should probably go to bed……"

"Good idea, Selena…" I climbed into bed, "Night Selena.."

"Night Saru……"

Not long after we said out goodnights, I fell into a deep sleep, Shikaku being the last thin on my mind.


	5. Post Kiss Date

_A/N:Sorry about the slow update. Just got back from vacation in the country. I'll also be posting chapter 6 shortly. :D Oo, and I got a new kitten. His name is Neko. For those of you who don't know, Neko is cat in Japanese.  
_

**Chapter 5: Post kiss date**

**Saru's POV:**

_I glanced around as I ran, not knowing where I was, or what I was running from, just knowing that whatever I was running from was trying to kill me. I looked around noticing the dark, ominous atmosphere. The cracked sidewalk beneath my feet and dark, blackening sky over head not helping subdue the feeling I was going to die. I continued to run; feeling whatever it was that was following me getting closer. As I glanced back, I tripped over a deep crack on the sidewalk and fell to the ground. As I tried to get up, I felt a sharp pain in my side as I was kicked back down to the ground by someone. I looked up to see the same crimson haired, tattooed soul reaper who had revealed who I truly was. I looked in his eyes to see a sickening blood lust as the tip of his Zanpakto was at my throat_

"_Are you ready to die, demon?" The shinigami growled_

"_I'm not a demon, I'm a half blood." As I yelled, I felt the tip of the zanpakto brush against my throat._

"_Well, then HALFBLOOD, are you ready to die?" I cringed at the mocking tone in his voice. I looked around, looking for a way to escape._

"_It's no use, half blood. You will die by my blade."_

"_Over my dead body!"_

"_That can be arranged." The shinigami replied with a twisted grin. 'Damn. Bad choice of words on my part…' I thought to myself._

"_Any last words, demon?"_

"_Yeah… 3... Go to hell!" I spat with a fierce glare. The shinigami growled and pushed the sword through my throat._

I sat bolt upright in bed, breathing hard and gripping my neck, making sure there was no hole through my neck, looking around. I looked at the clock to see it was only 5:30 and groaned. 'Lovely… I could still be asleep….' I sighed and flopped back onto the bed. 'Well, no use trying to sleep again……' I lied in bed, staring up at the ceiling for what seemed to be an eternity. I glanced at the clock to see only 15 minutes had gone by. I gave in with a sigh, and got out of bed, beginning to get ready for school. I looked at the clock, taking note I was completely ready in 15 minutes and still had 45 minutes before school.

"Hey, Saru…..Why are you up so e-" Selena asked in a groggy voice.

"Nightmares……."

"Again….? Same one?"

I nodded. "Same one except it got to the point where I was actually stabbed in the throat with the blade……."

I saw Selena eyes widen. "But that's the farthest the dream has ever gone……."

"I know……. It may even go father than that the next time….."

Selena looked at me as she got out of bed and started to get ready for school. "Let's hope it doesn't go any farther…..

"Yeah... We can only hope……"

After waiting forever for Selena to get ready, we finally met up with Shiko, Ichigo, Shikaku, and Orihime outside of our house.

"Sorry we're a bit late, guys. Selena was screwing around again."

"Was not!" Selena crossed her arms.

"Hey, it's alright. At least you guys are here now…." Shiko said with a smile. Selena blushed a bit. 'Hah, I knew it….' I thought to myself, smirking inwardly.

As the 6 of us continued the seemingly long walk to school, it started raining.

"Oh, this is just lovely….. White shirts and rain are not a good combination…" Selena said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I know... Damn these school uniforms…. Are they trying to get us raped or something…?"

Selena sighed. "I know……" Shikaku and I were silent for the rest of the walk to school, while the other talked amongst themselves. As soon as we got to school, I grabbed my text book from my locker and hurried off to first period.

First period droned on as Amada-Sensei began to talk about the life cycle of a butterfly. 'Oh come on… Who needs to know about the life cycle of a butterfly….?' I thought to myself as I began to fade out of reality.

First period went by relatively fast, as did second, seeing as though I was in my own world for both periods. At the end of second period, Ahashi-Sensei stopped me before I could walk out the door.

"Saruwatari, can I talk to you for a second…?" Ahashi-Sensei asked in her normal, annoying raspy tone with the same ruler in her hand she always held. I wonder what she uses it for……

"Gomen, Ahashi-Sensei, but I really must be getting to 3rd period. Akai –Sensei will kick my-"

"That was not a question, it was command. Now have a seat, demon." She said with distaste.

My eyes widened slightly. 'Oh come on! She can't possibly know….'

"I'm sure you're quite aware of why I called you demon……."

"Iie, Ahashi-Sensei. I don't have a clue." I replied innocently. Ahashi-Sensei put the ruler in a striking position, and brought it down to the back of my head. I rubbed the back of my head.

"Ow….." My eye narrowed at Ahashi-Sensei as I rubbed the back of my head.

"I know you know what you are….. I see you stare out the window at the passing spirit beings… Hollows, Shinigami, normal human spirits ………"

My eyes widened. "W-well, how do you know I'm not like you…? Just another human here in Karakura that can see spirits….."

"Because-" Before she could finish her sentence, I took off running, out of the classroom, down the nearly empty hall to my locker, then ran to PE, getting there just before the bell rang.

After the incredibly slow 3rd period, it was lunch time, and our group made our way up to the roof once more. Once again it was Ichigo, Shiko, Shikaku, Selena, Orihime, me, and to my dismay, Keigo, Ichigo's annoying friend.

"So, Saru, what would you say if I said I wanted you to be my girl?" Keigo asked, attempting to be cool.

"I'd say 'Sorry, no. My heart has been stolen by someone else', which I'm saying now, so let it go" Keigo then looked to Selena.

"Hey, Selena-"

"She's not interested either…… and if you try something with either of us, I won't hesitate to kick your ass." I interrupted.

"She'd do it……" Ichigo warned, looking at Keigo. "She actually slapped Ihiro…"

"Oh, that's why he had a big hand print on his face yesterday…" Keigo said laughing.

"Yeah… I must admit, even though I was extremely pissed off, it was fun…… Keigo, close your ears for a second…."

"But why….?" Keigo whined.

"Because, I said so, now please just do it."

Keigo opened his mouth to whine again, but I shot him a menacing glare, which shut him up and got him to cooperate.

"Now, back to what I was going to say…. Ahashi-Sensei stopped me to talk to me after class…. She called me a demon and said she knew what I was….."

Selena, Shikaku, Shiko and Ichigo's jaws dropped and eyes widened while Keigo stood there with an annoyed face.

"That's not possible…. " Selena finally said.

"Well, it is and has happened…… She knows what I am and hates it… but just let it go for now….." I removed Keigo's hands from his ears as we reached the roof. Once again, we separated to our usual sides of the roof: Boys on the right girls on the left.

I sat down and opened my lunch box as the other did. I took a sip of juice as Orihime and Selena began to talk, then Orihime looked at me. "So, Saru…. How was that kiss with Shikaku yesterday?" Ohihime asked with an innocent smile. At that little inquiry, I spat a mouthful of juice all over Selena.

"Ew, Saru that was disgusting!"

"Heh, sorry Selena. My bad… and it was all right I guess…." I lowered my head and me hair fell over my face to hide the dark blush creeping across my cheeks.

"Oo, that means she love it." Selena pointed out with a smirk.

"D-did not!" I retorted, crossing my arms. 'Damn her. She knows she's right and loves it.' I thought crossly.

Selena just laughed.

"Oh, go to hell, Selena." I seethed as I picked up my lunch and moved away from them.

**Shikaku's POV:**

"Hey, Ichigo. I heard Orihime has a crush on you." Shiko said taking a bite of rice

"Eh, I don't think s-" Ichigo was cut off by an outburst from Saru.

"Oh, go to hell, Selena!"

We all turned our heads and watched Saru move away from Orihime and Selena.

"That's Saru and her normal vulgar language…." Shiko said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I suppose it is…" I said with a slight smile. My thoughts were on her at this point. I watched walk over to another part of the roof and sit down with slight scowl on her face. "Maybe I should go check on her…. She looked kind of pissed…" I stood up and started walking toward her.

"Oo, go get her man." Shiko called after me.

"Shut up." I shot back. I made my way over to Saru with Keigo, Selena, Orihime, Ichigo and Shiko staring at me, most of them with smirks on their faces/ I sat down next to her and turned my head to her. She was staring off into space with the normal blank and attractive expression on her face. 'Agh. Damn hormones… Maybe I am starting to pick up Saru's language.' ,I though with a chuckle. "Hey, Saru, are you alright?" I asked nudging her shoulder gently.

"Huh… What?" She said looking at me, still somewhat distracted.

"I asked if you were all right…" I repeated with a small smile. The blank expression quickly faded away as her fiery ice blue eyes widened.

"Y-yeah… I'm alright." She muttered.

I chuckled softly. "Really? You seemed pretty pissed off a minute ago." Saru nodded and looked away from me, obviously trying to hide a blush I'd already seen.

"Aw, come on. Don't hide it. I think you're even cuter than usual when you blush." I chuckled softly as her head snapped in my direction, eyes wide

"C-could you repeat that? I didn't catch t-that…" She stammered.

"I said don't hide the blush, it's cute." I said with a soft chuckle. I pushed a lock of her long, silky black hair behind her ear. My smile widened a bit as the blush darkened and she stared at the ground.

"Go Shikaku!" Ichigo yelled

"Shut up, Ichigo." I called back. 'Damn. I forgot about them.'

"Go Shikaku. " Shiko yelled. "You got her, Now, go in for it. You did it yesterday, just do it again!" Suddenly Saru had disappeared and glancing around, I found she had reappeared in front of Shiko with her eyes narrowed and arms crossed.

"Shiko, I swear if you don't shut up, I will hurt you, very, very badly…" Saru said with a quiet, angry tone.

"Uh, Shikaku…. Little help?" Shiko pled with wide eyes while Saru stood there with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"I'm only going to help you because I don't want her to get suspended, or else I'd let her kick your ass…" I said walking behind her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Saru. Let's go finish lunch. I'll come and sit by you…" Shiko opened his mouth to say something, probably something stupid, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Saru.

She walked back over to her lunch while I grabbed mine and walked over, then sat down beside her. She took a drink of juice just as I sat down.

"Saru?"

"Hm?" She asked looking at me.

"I'm really sorry about yesterday at lunch… I know you probably didn't want that…." I put one hand on the back of my head, feeling like a complete dumb ass. Saru flashed me a sincere smile.

"It's not a big deal….. We're…... just friends, ne?" She said with a pained tone and slightly drooping smile. I smiled inwardly, now knowing what I should do.

"Well, yes. We are, but it seems to me like we should be something more…" I laid back and looked up at the sky. Out of the corner of her eye, I noticed her stop in the middle of a sip of juice. She turned her head to look at me, eyes wide.

"Hey, I got an idea." I said with a smile. "Why don't we go somewhere Friday night… like the movies or something, just me and you, no one else?"

"Uh… S-sure…. Sound good….." She stammered with a dark blush creeping across her cheeks.

"Well, I think we should head back to class." I stood up and brushed my self off, then offered a hand to Saru to help her up. She had a small smile on her face.

"Why to go, Shikaku." Ichigo yelled.

"Go Saru!" Selena called.

"SHUT UP!" We both yelled.


	6. A New Relatioship Begins

* * *

**_A/N 2: This is the edited version of this chapter. ^-^ I'm going to be rewriting all of my chapters, because, well, they suck... bad. -'_**

**A/N: Fluff alert in this chapter. I don't know who well I did with it, but I tried. :D Woo! And Sorry about the less frequent updates. I get lazy. ^-^  
**

**Chapter 6: The beginning of a new relationship**

**Saru's POV:**

When Friday morning finally arrived, Saru jumped out of bed, quickly heading over to her dresser to dig her uniform out of whatever random drawer she'd shoved it into. She also grabbed Selena's uniform, which had been neatly laid out on her dresser. Selena on the other hand, was just now sitting up, rubbing her eyes sleepily and making an attempt at combing through that rat's nest she called her hair.

"Come on, Selena. Hurry up! I want to be out there on time for once." Saru then threw the uniform in her direction, it landing on Selena's head. After throwing the uniform, she headed into the bathroom to brush out her hair, put on what little make-up she did wear, and change into her uniform.

"Calm down, Saru. Running around like a mad woman won't make tonight come any faster." Selena replied, seeming somewhat annoyed now, pulling the uniform from her head and swinging her legs over the bed. Slowly but surely, she stood up and headed back over to her dresser to grab her uniform... which was still in her hand.

"Says you!" Saru replied, now coming out of the bathroom completely dressed. She raised a brow, hearing the doorbell ring downstairs. She wondered who would be here this early in the morning.

"Saru, it's for you." Kyoko called up the stairs.

"All right. Coming." She replied. She looked to Selena, laughing at her expression and the way her hair stuck up in every direction.

"Shut up." She replied, scowling now.

Continuing to laugh, Saru headed down the stairs. She jumped down the last couple of steps, like she'd made a habit of doing. Her skirt didn't seem to want to stay in its place though. It floated up with the breeze as she jumped.

"You know, if I were Ihiro, I would be making a perverted comment at this point," a familiar male voice said, seeming to be quite close behind her.

"S-shikaku?" She raised a brow, her cheeks tinting a pale pink.

"That would be me." He replied with that same grin of his.

'Damn it! Why in front of him?' She thought with a sigh. That wasn't want she wanted to happen, particularly in front of Shikaku. "What are you doing here so early? You know you're like 11 hours early, right?" She said with a playful smirk and teasing tone. She was honestly just trying to cover up for her skirt's mistake.

"Well, I decided I wanted to walk ahead of the others.. and figured maybe you'd want to walk with me." He replied with a shrug.

"Uh, well... Sure." She replied with the same sort of shrug. "Let me grab my bag... full of homework I did not finish..." She said, rolling her eyes as she made her way back up the steps. As soon as she made it back to the room, she received a few suggestive looks from Selena.

"Hmm... Was that Shikaku I heard down stairs?" Selena was now dressed, her hair in a low ponytail at the base of her skull.

"Yes, it was." Saru replied, grabbing her bag from beside her bed and slinging it over her shoulder and heading toward the door. "I'm walking to school with him today... The others will probably be there around the same time."

"Oo, well then, have fun." Selena said with a smirk.

"Shut up, Selena…" She replied, rolling her eyes, heading back down the stairs to Shikaku, who was still standing by the door patiently.

"I guess we should head out, now.. Ladies first." He said, opening the door with a smile.

"Oo, a gentlemen. " She replied with a teasing smirk, walking out the door. She heard Shikaku follow behind, shutting the door as he walked out. They continued in silence for a while. It was getting rather unnerving for Saru. She was grateful with Shikaku finally started the conversation she wasn't brave enough to start herself.

"Hey Saru...?"

"Hm?" She glanced in his direction for a moment.

"Where did you get that silver locket hanging from your neck?" The question seemed kind of sudden, but she didn't mind answering. She didn't talk about her parents much... She didn't know really anything about them.

".... I think from my parents..." She replied, now picking the small silver locket up off her chest and looking at it. She could see her reflection in the shining silver...

"You think you got it from your parents? You don't remember?" He wasn't trying to be rude, or pry... He was just curious.

"No... I don't remember anything from the first 8 years of my life... I don't even remember my parents' names, much less their faces... " She murmured softly, glancing off to the side with a somewhat... sad expression. It wasn't often she talked about these things, or her emotions at all really. "I came here when I was eight years old with no family, no friends, and no memory of where I'd come from or who I was, other than my name... Two years ago, when I'd just turned 12,... I was adopted by Selena's parents. I'd never really warmed up to my foster parents... They were nice people and all, but they knew I'd be happy with Takai in Kyoko. I never changed my last name though, which they had no problem with, of course... I decided to keep one of the only things I had left from my parents... I'm assuming their dead now... either that, or they just didn't want me anymore... And I'm sorry you had t hear that. You didn't ask for a life story or anything." Not that she could really give one. "Just forget I said anything." She replied, glancing to him with a slight smile.

"Saru..." She now suddenly felt a hand on your shoulder.. "It's fine... besides, who wouldn't want you...? You're a fun person to be around... You're beautiful, and smart... You don't take crap from anyone, yet when the time calls for it, you're pretty compassionate... Sad expressions don suit you anyway." Saru then looked up, slightly wide eyed, to see that same familiar grin on Shikaku's face.

"Thank you Shikaku... " She replied softly, for once, actually smiling. The two continued in silence.. but unlike before, this was a comfortable silence.

* * *

The two did arrive surprisingly early to class. They grabbed their biology textbooks and headed to class for a lesson that neither them would really pay attention to anyway. When class began, they instructor was going over last night's homework and previewing today's lesson... but Saru wasn't paying attention to anything aside from her own thoughts, as usual. The main subject of though, for the moment anyway, was the movie she and Shikaku were going to see tonight. It was some movie called The Ring. She'd heard of it, but hadn't seen it before. It didn't look too scary though. But before she knew it, the second period bell had rung, and biology was over.

Math: oh how she dreaded that class. The subject itself wasn't the best, but for her, it seemed the instructor had it out for Saru. She was always chastising her for something. Either that, or making her solve the most difficult question in the lesson. She almost never did it right and that would just make her look like an idiot. Soon, she headed into the classroom and sat at her desk. Just as she was pulling her homework out of her bag, she felt an ominous presence loom over her. "... Konnichiwa, Ahashi-Sensei.." Saru said, controlling her tone to make it seemed as pleasant as she could manage.

"Saruwatari..." She acknowledged with a curt nod, now walking past her desk. Saru's eye twitched at the use of her full name. She was tempted to try and correct her for the thousanth time this week, but she figured it was useless. She wouldn't listen.

Math was droning on unusually slow today. Maybe it was because they were learning some linear function crap, another part of math which no one cared about or would ever use in the future. Saru was feeling restless today, and needed to do something to make class more entertaining. She had an idea, and though it was reckless and stupid on her part, she would do it anyway. She just needed a flammable item. Now, she wouldn't just let it burn if it couldn't be controlled. She could easily put it out herself. A slight smirk tugged at the right corner of her lips.

"Saru... what are you up to?" Shikaku whispered to Saru. He'd seen that smirk before.. He knew she had to be up to something.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough..." She replied quietly.

"Class, I will be returning momentarily. I must see run a short errand." Ahashi-Sensei said that agitating raspy tone, her ruler in hand. "See to it that you all behave properly." She chided while walking out the door. 'This is my chance..' She thought, standing and heading over to the pencil sharpener. She sharpened her pencil, though it didn't need sharpening, and headed back to her desk as she noticed Ahashi-Sensei nearing the classroom once again. She purposely took a path that passed by Ahashi-Sensei's desk. She knew this wasn't one of her better ideas, but she noticed everyone was working on their assignments, too distracted to notice she was actually up to anything, aside from Shikaku that is. He was watching, curious as to what Saru had up her sleeve. As she passed by the desk, a small flame ignited on the tip of her right pointer finger. She made sure to keep the hand ablaze hidden by her body. She then brushed the flame along the edge of the paper, just long enough for it to catch. Then before anyone could notice the burning papers, she got back to her seat, settled in by the time Ahashi-Sensei had opened the door.

"Oh my!" Ahashi-Sensei's ruler clattered to the floor as she hurried to the back of the classroom to get the fire extinguisher. She was quite amused with this, and it seemed to her that no one suspected her. She had an eyebrow raised, as if surprised... but internally, she was smirking. Soon after, the bell rang, and students poured out of the classroom. By that time, the fire was out, and nothing had been burned, aside from the papers, which was nothing by a pile of ash. Of course, the section of the desk where the papers had been was a bit blackened, but other than that, all was well. Saru hurried out of the classroom before she could be stopped by her she-devil of a math teacher. Shikaku was right behind her, barely restraining laughter. As soon as he got out into the hallway, he began to laugh. But his laughter wasn't distinguishable among the other in the hallway.

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The rest of the day had gone by pretty quickly as news of the igniting papers spread through the school like wildfire. Saru was quite pleased with her little prank, and she planned on doing something along those lines quite often. After 6th period let out, Saru headed back to her locker, putting her text book away.

"Hey Saru." Saru turned as she shut her locker, seeing Selena heading toward her, along with Ichigo, Orihime, Shiko, and Shikaku beside her. She figured she'd already met up with them.

"Hey guys. Hey Ichigo, Shiko, Orihime, did you guys hear about the paper incident in second period?" She asked, smirking subtly. She knew Shikaku and most likely Selena knew.. but not Shiko, Ichigo.

"That was your doing, wasn't it?" Shiko asked with a grin.

"Now what would make you think I did something like that?" She asked, making an attempt to smile innocently as the six walked out of the school building.

"Oo, someone's happy today..." Selena pointed out with a smirk. Well, of course she was. She had a date tonight.. and well, today had just been a good day overall.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious." Saru replied with a slight laugh.

"I'm helping with your outfit tonight, Saru." Selena said looking at her, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Oo, let me help too. Let me help." Orihime chimed in excitedly.

"Sure, Orihime." Saru said with a slight smile, looking to Orhime, "And we're picking from _my_ closest... Not yours." She said, turning her head to look at Selena.

"Oh, fine. I don't see why you like all of those dark clothes you wear. They're so trashy..." Selena said with disgust as she shook her head. She was actually going to try and find something from her closet, but it seeme Saru was one step ahead of her on that issue.

"Aw, come on, Selena. I like Saru's clothes. I think the skulls and stuff.." Shiko said with a grin. "Yours a nice too, but the chains are sweet."

"Yeah, me too." Shikaku replied with a grin. Of course, that being said, Saru was definitely wearing something from her closet. Selena knew that, and so did Orihime.

"Exactly, so deal with it, Selena." Saru said with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.

Selena's eyes narrowed slightly. She raised her hand, her fingers all out. _Five. _She put one down. _Four. _

Saru's eyes widened slightly. She knew where this was going. "Aw, crap. Come on, Selena. Do we have to do this now? I don't want to run." She whined.

But Selena didn't stop. She put another finger down. _Three. _And another. _Two. _Saru now knew she had to run. As Selena put another finger down, Saru took off. Selena give her that last second to get ahead, then took off after her. "Don't think you can out run me, Baka!" Selena called, catching up quickly. Behind them, Shiko and Ichigo could be heard, laughing. Saru thought she heard another quiet chuckle, but she couldn't be sure.

Saru knew she probably couldn't out run her. Selena was a fast runner... Very fast. Saru wasn't the fastest, because, well, she had her teleporting, due to her heritage. She thought it more useful than speed, well, other than in PE. "Dammit Selena. Do we really have to do thise now? I didn't do anything." She whined again.

"But why? I've almost got you!" Selena was now only a couple of feet behind me. Soon, Saru would be beneath Selena, on the ground. 'Damn damn damn damn damn.. Must run... must not get t-' But soon another body came crashing down upon her own. The two were not sprawled out on the concrete. But something had gone wrong. Saru hadn't been able to catch herself in time to stop her head from hitting the concrete at full force. Her vision was blurry and her head throbbed. She felt light-headed. The rushed footsteps of the others were distant and echoing, or they seemed that way to her.

"Saru!" A voice called in the distance. She turned her head to the left to see Shikaku, seeming to be calling her name again. Then everything went black.

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Saru groaned, opening her eyes only to be blinded by a bright light. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, but as soon as she did, the head of another blocked the sun's rays.

"Saru..." The voice was male and certainly recognizable. Though it seemed he was coming leaning over her, which wasn't possible unless... "Saru." He repeated, frowning slightly. Her head had to be in his lap. At the angle he was coming from, there was no other option.

"S-shikaku..."

"She's all right.." He said, turning to the others standing behind him with a smile.

Ordinarily, Saru would have sat up quickly, apologizing for causing him trouble, despite the fact she didn't do anything... but she was still a bit dazed. With another groan, she sat up slowly, holding the side of her head. "What time were you coming over?" She said quietly, now looking to Shikaku. "We never really set a time."

"... Are you sure you're still up to going?" Shikaku said, with an eyebrow raised. "You just got your head slammed against a concrete sidewalk... You passed out, too.."

"Eh, it couldn't have been for that long... Besides, I'll be all right." She replied with a smile. "It was just a bump on the head. The headache will go away." She replied with a smile.

"If you're sure you're up to it... 6:30, I guess." Shikaku said with a light chuckle.

"I hate to break this up, but I think you should let your girlfriend get ready, Shikaku." Ichigo said with a slight smirk.

Saru and Shikaku rolled their eyes in unison. Shikaku stood up, and put a hand down to Saru to help her up. She took his hand, and pulled herself up, swaying a bit on her feet at first.

"Saru, are you sure you can go?" Shikaku frowned slightly. He was looking forward to this, but he didn't want her to be miserable the entire night.

"Yes, I'm positive." She replied with a smile. She was then grabbed by the arm and dragged in the direction of the house, by Selena of course.

"I'll be over at 5:30, Saru!" Orihime called excitedly.

"All right... See you then." She called back with a smile. "You can let go now, Selena." She said, scowling at her now.

"Heh, sorry..." Selena let her arm go. "You really do like him though, don't you...?" She really didn't need Saru to answer to know the truth. She saw the way she looked at him, the way she smiled around him.. How that tough shell Saru locked herself in cracked a little more each time the two were together.

Saru didn't respond. She shifted her gaze to the side, a blush creeping across her cheeks. She didn't want to answer. Selena knew the answer anyway.

"I'll take that as a definite yes..." Selena chuckled. She knew Saru wasn't always good with her emotions.. She never was, actually. It didn't surprise her she would have a hard time actually admitting it.

Saru just crossed her arms over her chest, and looked away. 'She knows me too well.' She thought with a sigh.

"Aw, come on Saru. You don't have to be embarrassed about having feelings for someone... especially a nice guy like Shikaku..." Selena smiled. And it wasn't her typical smile that usually indicated something more, smirk, or even a playful, teasing smile. It was a genuine smile.

"Whatever.." She muttered, still blushing. "We've got homework to do, though, and we need to get home fast." She said, now grabbing Selena's arm with a smirk.

"Oh, no. We're not doing that again. The last time you did that, I almost got s-" But before Selena had time to finish her sentence, Saru had disappeared. A few seconds later, the two reappeared on the sidewalk in front of the house. "See, that was much faster, wasn't it Selena?" Saru said with a grin. She paused, waiting for a response, but there was none. "Selena...?" She repeated, raising a brow, now glancing to her friend, letting her hand fall from her arm.

Selena suddenly put a hand over her mouth, sprinting to the front door and throwing it open. She then ran into the house, up the stairs, into her and Saru's bathroom, and slamming the door behind her.

"Oops... I guess I'll be apologizing for that one later..." Saru said, walking into the house behind Selena.

"Apologizing about what?" Takai, Saru's adoptive father and Selena's biological father, walked in to the front hallway with a dishtowel in his hand. It seemed he'd been washing the dishes or something when Selena came running through the house.

"I ma-... Wait, why are you home now?" She asked, raising a brow slightly. Takai was a police officer, and generally, he had to work late. Either that, or his shifts were longer than she thought. "You're not usually home by this time."

"Well, I am today... but Kyoko's the one who is coming home late, tonight. She said something about there being an important case. There's some stuff she still has to do in the forensics lab." He replied with a smile, ruffling her hair.

"Eehh, stop... One, you're messing up my hair, and two, I have a headache..." She replied, ducking out from under his hand and smoothing her hair out.

"Well, that means you may have to skip that date tonight.." He teased.

"No." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm still going." She certainly wasn't going to miss it because she had a little headache... Well, it was more of a massive 'My head's been slammed against the concrete' headache... but it was faded eventually.

Before Takai could tease her about it, a rather annoyed looking Selena came down the steps. "You are in so much trouble, Sa-" She stopped suddenly. "Dad...?" She said, lookin to Takai now. "Why are you home? Did you get off early or something?" She raised a brow.

"Actually, I'm home on time, and your mother is working late tonight..." Takai hugged both Saru and Selena, one in each arm. "I haven't seen you two very much for the past few days... although I have gotten word of Saru's little date tonight." He grinned slyly.

"Come on, Takai. Please don't be weird tonight. I don't want you to freak him out." Saru pleaded. She wished she would have thought to warn Shikaku of Takai, being as weird as he is... but she didn't think of it. The headache must have side-tracked her.

"Aw, but Saru, that's my job. I am technically your father now, remember? I have been for almost two years now. And I'm sure his dad is going to be weird, too." He replied with a laugh.

"Eeehh, I don't care if his dad is going to be weird. Don't be weird... Pllleeeassee?" Saru whined, looking up to Takai with the best innocent, pleading expression she could muster. Of course she'd never been good at those, but she had to try.

"Sorry, but that's my job. I must fulfill my parental duties." Takai grinned again, ruffling her hair once more.

"Eeeeehhhhhhhh." She ducked out from under his hand... again, making a pitiful attempt to smooth her hair. It seemed only the brush could fix her dishelved hair.

"Hah." Selena smirked. "That's what you get for making me get sick." Takai just looked to Selena, raising a brow.

"She decided we needed to get home faster." Selena explained with an irritated sigh. It seemed that was all Takai needed to hear. He began to laugh. Selena just rolled her eyes and started up the stairs again.

With a smirk, Saru quickly ran up behind her, grabbed her arm, and disappeared.

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After the two got back into Saru's room, Selena running to the bathroom a second time, some arguing, and doing homework, a knock sounded on the door.

"I'll get it. You stay up here..." Selena left the room and went down the steps to get the door before Saru could protest. With a sigh, she headed over to her dresser, finding her iPod and putting the earphones in her ears. She unlocked the iPod, and hit shuffle. The first song it turned to was some soundtrack from a show she'd liked. It was some calm piano piece, played in the music box tone. Soon, she was no longer with reality. Her thoughts drifted from subject to subject. Most of the time, the previous thought had nothing to do with the next. She thought she felt herself falling, but she didn't pay much attention to it. That is, until she no longer heard the music and the earphones was ripped from her ears. "Hey! Where'd the music go?" She said. She stopped though, raising a brow when she realized she was, again, on the floor with the feeling of an all to weight on her back. "How'd I get down here...?"

"You spaced out so much you haven't noticed I tackled you yet! Baka!" Selena's hand soon connected with the back of her head. Orhime was giggling quietly giggling in the background.

"Ow, hey! I have a headache." She whined, now letting her head fall to the carpeted floor.

"Oops. Sorry." Selena said, now standing up. "Now get up. We have to get you ready."

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After a long argument about the clothes, and Orihime trying to stop the argument, we finally decided on a pair of tight black jeans and an Orange Range band t-shirt. (A/N: Orange Range t-shirt idea came from my cousin Haiden. Woo, thanks Haiden!) Selena forced Saru put on less eyeliner, though Saru got to pick the shoes she wore, which were a pair of hightop tennis shoes. Selena hated Saru's dark style, not that she cared. Saru didn't care what anyone thought.. Well, most people anyway.

"You look amazing!" Orihime squeed.

"But something is missing..." Selena said, looking her up and down once again. "Oo, I know.." She glanced around the room for a moment, seeming to be searching for something. Saru didn't have any idea what she was looking for, and neither did Orihime. Saru realized what was missing when she looked down to see the locket gone from its place around her neck. As she noticed, Selena was heading to her bedside table, grabbing it, and handing it to her. With a slight smile, Saru took from her, and returned it to it's rightful place. "I must have taken it off after school with out realizing it..." She said softly, running her finger over the smooth outer surface of the shining locket. She looked at her own reflection in the silver. The image was slightly distorted, but clear. '... Each time I look at the locket, I can help but wonder when I got this locket.. or if my parents are alive anymore..' She thought.

"Saru, he's here. You don't want me to start being weird without you do you?" Takai called to me from downstairs.

"Eeehhh..." Saru suddenly disappeared, reappearing downstairs. She left Selena and Orihime to take the stairs. Shikaku jumped slightly when she'd appeared out of nowhere. She chuckled softly and shook her head. But she soon remembered the task at hand. "Shikaku, this is my Takai, my father... technically..." She said with a flat, less than enthusiastic tone.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Takai said with a smile. "I've heard quite a bit about you from Saru." He said with a grin.

"Agh, Takai, stop it..." Saru said, her face turning a light pink. "Do you have to be so weird?"

"Yes. I must fulfill my parental duties, and I'm just naturally weird. " Takai grinned and Saru groaned. Of course, she loved Takai as if he were her own father, but he was strange, and honestly, embarrassing her to no end. She just wanted to get out of there. Luckily, a car outside of the house honked. She figured it was Shikaku's father.

"Well, it seems my father is being impatient. See you later, Selena, Orihime. Nice meeting you, Innu-San." Shikaku said, opening the front door for Saru.

"Eh, don't be so formal. Just call me Takai." Takai smiled at the two of them, waving a bit. "Now you two behave. We don't need any children at this age." He said with a playful grin.

"TAKAI!" Saru's eyes widened sightly, her face burning a bright red. She had to say, that would probably be one of the most embarrassing things she would ever hear him say.

Takai and Selena laughed. Shikaku held the door open for Saru. She gladly walked out the door, seeming to be in a bit of a hurry.

"Oo, Saru, looks like you've got yourself a gentlemen." Takai teased again as Shikaku walked out the door behind her..

She groaned again as Shikaku shut the door behind them. "See you guys later." Shikaku called as the door shut.

"Sorry about that Shikaku... Takai's weird..." Saru said, the blush now beginning to fade.

"Don't worry about it. He's funny..." He replied with a smile. "But.... just a little heads up, my dad is weirder..." He said, sighing quietly.

"I doubt that's possible..." She said. The two were silent until they got to the car. Again, Shikaku opened the car door for her, and shut it behind her when she got in. He when went around the other side and entered the car.

"Dad..., this is Saru." Saru could heard the annoyance and even a bit of embarrassment in his tone. It seemed to her that Shikaku's father was just as bad to him as Takai was to her.

Shikaku's dad glanced back to Saru with a smile before driving off. "Well, Saru, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Souta Inaku, Shikaku's father... You know, Saru, Shikaku is quite fond of you..."

"Dad, be quiet, please." Shikaku said, sound almost like he was pleading.

"Aw, come on. Why?" Souta asked with a playful smile. It was getting hard for Saru to hold back the laughter threatening to escape. Never before had she seen Shikaku so, well, aggravated. Sure, she'd seen him angry, like before class last week.. but she honestly found it amusing to see him so annoyed.

"Dad, you're not funny..." Shikaku had a seriously peeved expression on his face, but she couldn't help but to find it amusing.

"Well, it seems Saru thinks so." He glanced back to Saru again. She could see where Shikaku picked up that grin of his. Souta grinned in a similar manner.

"Dad... please, shut up..." Shikaku said, putting his hand to his forehead. "This is really embarrassing."

"You know, Shikaku, she's quite pretty. How'd you get someone like her?" Souta stated. Saru was flattered, but still, more amused than anything.

"DAD, JUST SHUT UP!" Shikaku's eye twitched slightly as he scowled at the back of his father's seat. That was all Saru could really take. At this point, she was shaking with silent laughter. It wasn't funny... She did feel bad for Shikaku, but it was always funny when it was happening to someone else.

"See, I told you I was funny." Souta glanced back to Shikaku with a playful grin again. Shikaku's eye twitched again.

"Dad... we're here..." Shikaku mumbled with a slight scowl on his face. Souta stopped the car, allowing the both of us to get out.

"Arigato, Inaku-San. " Saru said with a slight smile. She usually wasn't so formal, but she could be very polite when she wanted too.

"No problem, Saru... You don't have to be so formal." Souta smiled back.

"Bye dad..." Shikaku waved unenthusiastically to his father as he pulled away. He was still scowling as they headed inside.

"You know, you really look like Ichigo with that scowl on your face." Saru smirked teasingly.

Shikaku smiled and laughed. It was probably true and he knew it.

"That's better." Saru smiled again.

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After getting into the building, buying tickets and drinks, and stopping to use the restroom, the two headed to the theater and chose their seats. They ended up in the middle of the seating arrangement. There were a few minutes before even the previews started, so the two started a short conversation.

"Hey Saru, you think this is actually going to be scary?" Shikaku asked, afterward taking a sip of his drink.

"I hope so." She replied, shaking her head. "Most of these movies anymore suck... They have no plot line and the acting is bad. Granted, the special effects are good... but-" She was going to continue her little rant, but theater darkened. The previews were beginning.

The movie's beginning was predicable, just as most of any of the movies were. Saru tried to concentrate on watching, but it seemed her short attention span was beginning to kick in. Her headache hadn't really dulled much either, so she still had a splitting headache. She still came on the date, though, because she had been looking forward to it all week. She also didn't want to disappoint Shikaku, because it seemed that he was looking forward to it as well. Her train of thought was shattered when what seemed like the whole theater screamed. It startled Saru, who screamed a bit herself, and clung to Shikaku's arm.

"Oh, not scary, huh?" Shikaku whispered teasingly.

".... Heh, I guess more so than I assumed..." She replied, laughing a bit. She didn't want him to know she hadn't been paying attention to the film most of the time. She thought it was hurt his feelings or something. She wasn't aware that she'd clung to his arm yet, though.

"Heh, well, you can stay like that if you want." He turned to look at Saru with a teasing grin.

"... Wh-.." She didn't have any idea as to what he was talking about. That is, until she glanced down to find her arms wrapped tightly around one of his own. Grateful for the dark concealing the light blush creeping across her cheeks, she let go of his arm, seeming to scoot as far back in her own seat as possible. Shikaku chuckled, then shifted his gaze back to the front screen.

As the movie continued, the space between the two of them shrank until it was almost nonexistent. When the credits finally began to roll by, the two where in a position that clearly stated they were on a date. Shikaku's arm was around Saru's shoulders and her head was resting on his shoulder. At one point, they'd lifted the arm rest between them so that position would be more comfortable for the both of them. Saru had almost fallen asleep a couple of times after being abruptly torn from her thoughts, then embarrassing herself by grabbing Shikaku's arm like that. She was comfortable in the position they were in. She'd forced herself to stay awake though when she'd guessed the end of the movie was nearing. The lights came on and the two stood from their seats, exiting with the others in the theater. Though they weren't making much physical contact, they were walking quite close together.

"You have fun, Spacecase?" Shikaku asked, smiling.

Saru nodded with a smile. "Of course. The movie wasn't scary, but admittedly, it was decent." The two were now standing outside, waiting for their ride.

"Well, the producers and directors should be honored to receive such a compliment from the great movie critic, Saru." Shikaku grinned teasingly, laughing when she rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Shikaku, quit flirting and come on. We've got to get Saru home and pick up your brother and Ichigo." Souta said, now pulling up to the curb beside them/

A vein popped in Shikaku's forehead, his expression slightly irritated, but he said nothing. Just as he did before, he opened the car door for Saru. He closed the door as she thanked him, and went around the other side to get in.

"So, how was the movie?" Souta asked, glancing back before driving away from the theater.

"All right." "Decent." The two replied at the same time.

"Oh, so you two actually watched the movie?" He asked. There was a hint of teasing in his tone, but Saru almost thought he was serious.

Shikaku on the otherhand, was not too pleased at the subtle, but noticeable implication that something went on between the two. "Yes. We watched the movie." Shikaku's expression was, again, rather irritated; more so than Saru had ever seen before. Usually, he was more relaxed and calm, but could it have been that he was actually as nervous as Saru had been about it?

An uncomfortable silence set in among the three of them. Saru was honestly a bit confused, while Souta amused and Shikaku irritated. The rest of the ride continued in that same, awkward silence. Soon, they arrived back at the house. Shikaku and Saru got out. "I'm walking Saru to the door." He said to his father, glancing back in his direction. He was a bit less irritated than he had been a while ago, but still irritated nonetheless.

"Thank you for the ride." Saru said with a smile, waving a bit.

"No problem, Saru." Souta returned the smile and wave.

The two walked to the front porch in silence. Even when reaching the door, the two stood there for a moment. "... I had fun." Saru said, looking to Shikaku with a slight smile.

"So did I. We should do it again sometime... and next time, maybe we could get Shiko to ask Selena to come with us." He smirked playfully, laughing quietly. He knew his brother liked Selena, just as Saru knew Selena liked him. Maybe they could get the two of them together...

"... I guess I should get Shiko and Ichigo.." Shikaku said, turning and heading toward the front door.

Saru bit her lower lip nervously, glancing to the side. She had to muster up some courage quickly, or the chancee will have passed. "Shikaku wait." She said, grabbing his wrist as he was about lay a hand on the doorknob.

Shikaku raised a brow, casting her a questioning glance. He turned to face her now. "Saru... is there something wro-" But he was cut off as Saru took a step forward, pressing her lips to his own. He tensed for a moment, his eyes widening. He was caught of guard by that. It took him a moment for it to register what had just happened. Just as Saru was about to pull away, Shikaku put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss.

"Finally!" Three voices, seeming to be coming from in the house, exclaimed in unison. The two suddenly separated, glancing over to the window. Three pairs of orbs disappeared from behind the blinds: dark blue, emerald green, and chocolate brown. There was then silence, and hushed whispering. Saru caught bits and pieces of the whispers, heading something like 'Oh crap, too loud', or 'Dammit, I think they heard us'.

"Shiko..." Shikaku said, referring to the dark blue.

"Selena..." Saru said, meaning the emerald green.

"And Ichigo..." The both of the said together, speaking of the chocolate brown.

".... We should probably head in now.." He said with a sigh, opening the door, allowing Saru to walk in first, then walking in behind it. When they walked it, the others seemed to be trying to make it look like they hadn't been doing anything other than talking like they were now. They had already seen them, number one. And number two, Selena and Shiko were both smirking. Orihime was on the far end of the couch, away from the window. The two of them knew Orihime wasn't looking through the blinds. She was far too nice, and there were only three pairs of eyes peeking through the blinds anyway.

Saru just looked at them, first to Selena, then Shiko, then Ichigo. They continued to look innocent, though it was obvious to her that they were, in fact, not. "So, why were you guys looking through the blinds?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We weren't." Selena said with a shrug, wiping the smirk of her face.

"Ya must be seeing things." Ichigo replied with the shake of his head.

"Yeah. We didn't see you guys kiss or anything." Shiko said with a smile. His smile soon faded into a confused expression as he realized what he just said. Ichigo and Selena just looked at him with a sigh.

"Okay, so we did see..." Selena said, rubbing the back of her head. "But it wasn't technically spying... We were just seeing what was going to happen."

"You were spying." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"Ichigo, Shiko... We should probably get going now.." Shikaku said, laughing as he watched Selena and Saru argue.

"Right. Ichigo, you staying over tonight?" Shiko said, standing and glancing to Ichigo go as he stood.

"Nah, I have stuff I have to tomorrow." He replied, standing and heading out the door. Shiko then followed behind him.

"Come on, Lover Boy. Dad's waiting." Shiko smirked to Shikaku as he walked passed him out the door.

"Right." He said with a sigh. "Bye guys." He said with a wave, shutting the door behind him.

"Bye.." Saru replied softly, waving with a slight smile.


	7. This can't be happening

**A/N: Once again, people, I apologize. I was on vacation in Florida and got back last night. (8/12/08) And school it starting the 18th so updates may be even slower than they are now. Sorry. T.T Also, I am changing to POV from Saru's to third person. First person is starting to piss me off. XP Okay. ON WITH THE STORY! By the way... a bit of graphic violence descriptions... **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH  
**

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_Saru sat outside on the porch of the house on a cold, crisp winter's day. A soft snowfall had began moments ago as she waited for a certain someone to show up. They had made plans to go to the park, even thought it was winter. Saru had loved winter, and tended to zone out during the season, just sitting there and watching the snow fall. Just as she was almost out of it, the sound of a smooth masculine voice rang out._

_"Well, well, it seems Spacecase is at it again." A figure known to Saru as Shikaku stepped out in front of her, blocking her view of the snow._

_"Hey, you're blocking my view." She teased as she playfully punched Shikaku's arm._

_"Well, if I didn't, you would've never come out of it." He teased as he rubbed his arm with a goofy grin set in his features._

_"Bull." Saru stood up with a smile on her face._

_"You know it's true." His ever present smile grew wider as Shikaku wrapped an arm around Saru's waist._

_"Is not." Saru then reached over and punched Shikaku's __arm again._

_"Ow..." Shikaku rubbed his sore arm. "Do you have to do that?"_

_"Yes, yes I do actually." Saru grinned, poking Shikaku's arm where she'd hit him._

_"Well, then, how do I get you to stop...?" Shikaku's tone was playful, just as his personality had always been. Saru had always admired him for that. No matter the situation, he managed to brighten everyone's spirits in someway._

_"I'd say you have to catch me.." Saru then took off running down then sidewalk, Shikaku following close behind._

_An ominous presence soon entered the area, Saru immediately taking notice. She suddenly stopped running, a serious expression replacing the playful one as it died off her face. Shikaku ran into her from behind, not being able to stop in time._

_"Saru... What is it?" Shikaku immediately took notice of the serious expression on her face._

_"It's him..."_

_"Who's him? What are you talking about?"_

_"That soul reaper... the spiky haired one with the tribal tattoos...The one that threatened to kill me..."_

_Shikaku's eyes widened. Saru quickly grabbed his hand and took off running in the opposite direction of the soul reaper._

_"Shikaku... we have to run... we have to get out of here now... I sense something very bad about the possible situation..."_

_"Well, well, demon. It seems you've managed to sense me before I kill you. Well done." The spiky haired soul reaper stepped out of the shadows clapping in a mocking manner, a sick, twisted grin plastered upon on his face._

_"You..." Saru narrowed her eyes at the opposing soul reaper. A figure then stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the soul reaper. The figure was Shikaku._

_"Leave her alone..." Shaikaku's eyes were narrowed into a fierce glare._

_"S-Shikaku..." Saru's eyes were wide with fear... but not for herself... for Shikaku._

_"Well well, boy. It seems you want to die today too." The soul reaper's twisted, blood thirty grin didn't falter as he spoke.  
_

_"SHIKAKU, MOVE. DON'T DO THIS." Saru cried putting a hand on his shoulder. She frantically began to shake his shoulder, attempting to stop him._

_"Saru..." Shikaku put his hand over Saru's on his shoulder, and pulled it off his shoulder.  
_

_"I really don't want to kill you too, boy, but if I must, I will." The soul reaper advanced towards Shikaku, sword unsheathed and pointed towards his chest._

_"__SHIKAKU, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS. HE'LL KILL YOU." Saru's pleading was futile. Shikaku had made up his mind._

_"Well, boy, have you really decided to die for this pathetic half blood...? " _

_Shikaku's eyes remained narrowed and he remained in a stationary position in front of Saru. Saru stood there frozen in shock and fear. It felt as if she couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't speak. Her chest tightened, any ability to move ceased to be. _

_"You asked for this, boy." The soul reaper made a move to plunge the blade into Shikaku's chest. Saru wanted to yell, push Shikaku out of the way and take the blow herself, but she couldn't. She was frozen in fear and shock. She watched in horror as the soul reaper's blade pierced Shikaku's chest. The tip protruded out the other side of his chest._

_"Sh... Shika... ku..." Saru's voice was shaky and detached. She watched, horrified, as the Soul Reaper's blade was pulled from Shikaku's chest.  
_

_"S... Saru..." Blood spurted from Shikaku's wound and mouth as he spoke. His body went limp and began to fall backwards. Saru caught him, falling to her knees. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she surveyed the gory situation she was currently in. Shikaku's blood was everywhere. It had quickly pooled beneath Saru and Shikaku, staining Saru clothes. Saru realized the one she loved was going die... and it was her fault. She froze up like a sissy. She should've taken the bastard down, but, now, because of her own cowardice... he was going to die. _

_"S-saru... pl-ease... don't... cry..." Saru's head snapped down to Shikaku. His eyes were dull. His breathing was shallow and labored. Blood continued to spurt from his mouth as he spoke. Saru furiously wiped at the tears, wanting them to stop, but seeing Shikaku in this state only made them come faster. _

_"C-come... o-on... d-on't cry..." Shikaku gave a small smile. His gaze met Saru's."I... don't... want... the last th-thing... I see to... be you... c-rying..." _

_"Don't talk like that, baka. Y-you'll... be... just... fine..." Saru gently pulled Shikaku up into her arms._

_"S-someone's... i-in... d-denial..._" _Shikaku smiled again. How he could smile in this state was beyond Saru._

_"Y-you can't leave... T-this can't be how it ends..." Tears began to flow at a rapid pace down the girl's face once more. She watched as the rise and fall of Shikaku's chest became weaker, his breathing shallower. A large pool of blood had settled beneath the two. That was more than enough blood loss to be fatal. The end was drawing near, and she could do nothing to stop it. _

_"P-please... don't... cry... I ... l-love you t-too... much... to see... y-ou... like this..." Blood sputtered from his mouth. _

_"I-I.. love you..." Saru whispered. She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips, tasting the metallic copper of blood. _

_"I... l-love you... t-too..." Shikaku uttered these words with his last breath. His eyes became dull and listless, staring blankly up at nothing. The weak rise and fall of his chest ceased. _

_Saru clutched Shikaku's lifeless body in her arms as her body began to tremble. Tears continued to stream down her face, but no sound escaped her lips.  
_

_"Aw, how sad." The soul reaper mocked. "Don't worry demon. You'll be with you little lover again soon." _

_The teenager glanced up at the soul reaper, eyes blood red with fury, but expression still sad. Tears continued to stream down her face. Her body shook with rage, and sobs unreleased. _

_"Well, demon... That little performance was entertaining, but, I came here to accomplish a goal." The soul reaper advanced towards her. Shikaku's blood dripped from the tip of his zanpakuto. Tears streamed down her face faster as she watched her now-deceased loved one's blood drip from the blade. Saru was almost at her breaking point. The sobs that threatened to escape were too persistent. After a short battle with the sobs threatening escape, Saru lost. She was soon overcome by nearly uncontrollable sobbing._

_"Now, now, demon. Dry your eyes." The mysterious soul reaper put his zanpakuto under her chin, and lifted it to make her look upwards. Saru wanted to get up, and kill the bastard. To pierce his chest and make him suffer just as he had done to Shikaku... but she couldn't. The sadness she felt weighed her down. Her body felt as though it weight a ton._

_"Any last words...?" The soul reaper forced his blade into the side of her neck, though, only a few centimeters. By now, the sobs had calmed a bit. The girl shifted her gaze to the shinigami. _

_"T-three actually... G-GO ... T-TO... H-HELL." _

_The soul reaper growled, shoving his blade through Saru's slender neck. Saru's vivid icy blue hues widened. Blood spurted from her mouth with every strained breath she forced herself to take. She gripped her neck, putting pressure on the wound in attempt to slow the bleeding, though, she knew it would only be a matter of minutes until she was gone. Her body limply fell to the right. Her own blood pooled beneath her and intermingled with Shikaku's. Her body grew cold as her vision became blurry. Her short life flashed before her eyes, or at least what she could remember of it. She turned her head to the left. Her gaze met with the listless gaze of Shikaku. 'I'm sorry... Your death was all in vain... I could not stop you nor protect you... and now we both pay the ultimate price...' Her end was coming near as everything was beginning to go black. After what seemed like an eternity, Saru drew her last breath._

A voice echoed in the distance. Everything was black.

"Saru..." "Saru..." "Baka... wake up... you're starting to scare me..." The voice echoing in the distance was familiar to Saru. The voice was none other than Selena.

"Baka, wake up." Selena shook the sleeping Saru's shoulder. Saru groaned, and opened her eyes.

"W-what the...? Where's Shikaku... " She reached up, touching her neck. To her relief, there was no gaping hole.

"What are you talking about Saru?" Selena raised an eyebrow. "You're acting really strange.." Saru felt something wet run down her cheek. Wiping at it, she noticed it was a tear. Another followed, than another.

"What the... Tears...?"

"You started crying in your sleep.." Selena muttered while looking at the floor. "I don't know what your nightmare was about.. but.." Selena glanced back up at Saru, eyes suddenly widening. Saru's eyes weren't the normal icy blue... they were an odd deep blue.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Saru continued to wipe at the tears beginning to fall. Though she generally wasn't one to express her emotions, she couldn't stop the tears. The dream had seemed so real to her. She couldn't flush the image of Shikaku's lifeless in her arms corpse from her mind. To her, that was hell. A life without him was complete hell. She couldn't believe she had fallen so hard for one guy.

"Y-Your eyes... They're blue..."

"Well, no duh. Anything else you would like to point out, Capain Obvious?"

"No, baka. I mean they're like a dark blue... not that normal freaky blue color they are..."

"My eye color is not weird." Saur crossed her arms over her chest. "You're just jealous.. "

"Baka, forget about that for now. Just go look in the mirror."

Saru sighed, throwing the covers off herself, and walking into the bathroom. She flipped the lights on, looking into the large mirror over the sink.

"Holy... shit..." Saru's now deep blue eyes widened in astonishment. They really were an odd deep blue. just as Selena had said. She didn't understand why though. She knew her eyes turned red when she was angry, but this had never happened before. Maybe it had something to do with her current emotional state.

"I told you..." Selena came up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder and speaking in a much gentler tone. "Now what happened in that nightmare that made you so upset...?"

Saru paused, looking down at the tiled bathroom floor. "N-nothing..." She said speaking softly. "Nothing at all." Saru walked back into the bedroom, flipping the lights off in the bathroom as she did so. She flipped the bedroom light off after glancing at the clock. 3 AM.

"Damn." Saru muttered under her breath. Sighing, she laid back down on the bed, and pulled the blankets back over herself.

'Baka..." Selena thought as she walked back into the bedroom. 'It's not good for you to bottle your emotions like that...' Selena crawled back into her bed, laying awake before falling asleep once more.

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**A/N: Okay, that was very graphic. Oh well. :D Oh and for any of you who don't know, baka is Japanese for idiots... :D. WOO FORIGEN NAME-CALLING. XD **

**:D Anyway, like I said, very violent. And for those of you who think I hate Renji, I do not. In fact, he is one of my favorite characters, but, he just seemed to fit the part. :D **

**Don't worry, Renji, I don't hate you. pats head **

**Renji Right. -- Like I care. **

**BAD RENJI. hits Renji with rolle up newpaper  
**


	8. Lives Forever Changed

A/N: Once again, I apologize, but I am switching back to Saru's POV. I have grown in my writing and discovered this may do better in her POV for the most part. :D  
Anyway, on with the story. :3

---

Groaning, I opened my eyes, only to meet the sight of a blinding light, the light being the sun. I hated the sun. It always woke me up too early, especially on weekends. Cursing under my breath, I sat up in bed and glanced to the clock at the bedside. 9:30.

"Dammit." I growled. I pulled the blanket off, and swung my feet over the side of the bed. I already had this strange feeling today would be a bad day.. Something would go wrong.. yet what it was, I never actually knew until it happened.

"Isn't it a bit early in the morning to be cursing.." A voice broke my thoughts. I glanced up, already knowing very well who it was.

"Isn't a bit early for you to be patronizing me for cursing.." I looked to Selena, barely stifling a laugh at the way her hair was sticking out in every which way. I didu't know how, but my hair was always near perfect when I woke up; yet it hung down to my waist. Selena's, on the other hand, was only at her shoulders, and was a rat's nest every morning. "Need a brush?" I smirked lightly.

"Shut up, Saru." Selena rolled her eyes in my direction, getting out of bed and dragging her feet all the way to the bathroom. "Hey, baka." Selena called from the bathroom. "Do you know why your eyes were that weird deep blue color last night?"

The dream.. I had forgotten about it until now. Generally, people didn't remember their dreams.. yet I could remember this one clearly.. much too clearly for my liking. I flinched visibly as I pictured Shikaku, lifeless and covered in his own blood in my arms. That dream was definitely something I wish I could forget.. but I knew that I didn't have enough good fortune for that to actually happen. I never had enough luck not to remember stuff like that. But maybe I would be able to keep what the dream was about, and how much it bothered me a secert in the very least.

"No... I didn't..." I called back, forcing as much emotion from my voice as possible. I didn't need Selena to pester me about what I had dreampt about last night.. She would try to comfort me and be all nice, and I didn't want that. I didn't need her to feel sorry for me.. and in all honesty, if she tried to comfort me.. I might start crying or something. I'm not usually one to show emotions like that. I've mastered the art of bottling emotions, as sad as that is to admit.

"Well, if you figure it out, let me know. I wanna know." I glanced over as Selena walked out of the bathroom. Her hair wasn't nearly as messy now, and she had even pulled it back out of her eyes; something else she always patronized me for (along with swearing, of course) was wearing my hair in my face.

"Sure.. Got it.." I mumbled, glancing out the bedroom window. I couldn't shake this feeling of foreboding... the feeling that something bad was going to happen.. and that really pissed me off because there was no way for me to know what it was that was going to happen.

"Hey Spacecase, snap out of it." Selena shoved me as she walked over, causing me to fall off the bed.

"DAMMIT, SELENA." I picked myself up off the floor, glaring at her. I suddenly stopped, forgetting Kyoko was probably awake. I tensed, waiting for the screech to watch my mouth.. but it never came. "Hey.. That's weird.. I wasn't yelled at for cursing...."

"You're right..." Selena raised an eyebrow, walking out of our bedroom. The both of us were still dressed in our pajamas, not bothering to change yet. After all, it was Saturday.

I followed Selena out of the room as she called for her mom. No one replied. The both of use ventured downstairs and into the kitchen, only to find a note sitting on the table.

_'Selena/Saru,_

_Went our for a bit. I need to check on something.  
Don't worry, everything's fine.  
I'll be home soon._

_Kyoko_

_PS: Saru, I'm going to say this now, seeing as though I'm not going to be home to say it in person: WATCH YOUR MOUTH.'_

Selena laughed as I rolled my eyes. Kyoko knew me too well.

"You think we should go walk around the neighborhood or do something other than sit around today?" Selena glanced to me, still laughing a bit about the note.

"Meh, we'll have to leave your mom a note if we do. We don't want her to spaz out or something if she comes home and we're gone... We should probably change though.. We'd look pretty stupid walking around in our pajamas.."

"I know, I know."

After walking back up the stairs, and changing, Selena scrawled a quick note on a scrap of paper (according to Selena, my handwriting is illegible.) Selena had changed into some ridiculously bright colored outfit: A yellow pair of Capri pants (I think that's that they're called at least) and a pink shirt. I, on the other hand, had a pair of dark jeans on, and a black shirt. Neon yellow skulls adorned the shirt in a repeating pattern. Selena's hair was pulled back in a pony tail, her bangs clipped out of her eyes. My hair, of course, was hanging down at my waist, completely free to do what it pleases. My bangs hung down in my face. People usually found out opposing clothing styles and personalities fairly amusing.. and ironic, but most didn't say much about it.

"It wouldn't kill you to wear pink...." Selena commented as we walked down the stairs and out of the house.

"I do..."

"Only when it's neon pink, and that's still rare..It's usually on those weird goth clothes you wear." Selena always thought she had to comment on my dark clothing style.. which got really old, really fast.. but, I still liked to make fun of her clothes at times too. She wore clothes that were bright enough to make me shield my eyes from the way they seemed to shine.

"Well, Sunshine, then stop wearing clothes that blind people with their ridiculous brightness, and maybe I'll wear pink once in a while." I stuck my tongue out at Selena, smirking slightly. I knew she would NEVER stop wearing those disturbingly bright clothes... and so did she (she also knew I would never keep that promise, even if she did. Hah, me in pink. Fat chance.)  
I could see her hand twitch in the way that told me she wanted to hit me.. but she didn't. She just glared at me, and turned her head in the opposite direction, making me laugh. She tried to act menacing, but she just couldn't be scary. It wasn't in her.

"Oh screw you." Selena scowled at me, crossing her arms over her chest. I only laughed harder.

"Hey, what's so funny?" A familiar voice called out. I knew who it was.. and remembering the events of the movie, made me stop laughing. I felt my face turn red. Selena looked at me as I stopped laughing, and smirked.

"Nothing Shikaku. Saru's just being stupid." Selena replied, still smirking most likely. Then I heard footsteps approaching. _'Oh please.. not now. I'll look like a complete dumbass with my face this red..'_ But I knew who is was... and I was not looking forward to looking like a dumbass in front of one of the only people whose opinion on anything mattered to me. At the same time, I was glad he happened to be out. I knew he was okay.. I know it had only been a dream.. but part of me was spazing out. I needed to see him to make sure he was okay.. yet I needed to keep that dream a secret from everyone.. or at least the gruesome details of it.

"I don't think it's possible for her to be stupid.. She's probably making fun of your or something.." Shikaku's voice rang in my ears.. Despite the fact his voice made my heart accelerate, it calmed me at the same time.. it dissolved my fears. I knew he was all right.. and I was now too. "She is pretty good at that." He laughed.

"I was actually." I smiled, turning to face him now. I was fairly sure my face wasn't too red anymore, so I didn't look completely stupid.

"She was being annoying, actually." Selena responded. "Laughing at me.. the usual stuff."

"Well, like I said.. She's got a talent for mocking you." Shikaku laughed again. He then looked at me, smiling a smile that caused my heart to skip a beat. "So, you have fun last night?" Shikaku had this goofy, lopsided smile that you just had to smile back at. I'm sure if he wanted to, he could even get Ahashi-Sensei to smile.

"Well duh." He really didn't have to ask that, and he knew. He probably just wanted to hear me say it.... though I'm pretty sure that kiss said it all.

"That ki-" But, just because I was thinking it, didn't meant Selena needed to say it aloud.

"So, Shikaku, wanna walk around with us? You can go and get Shiko. See if he wants to go too." I said, cutting Selena off.

"Oo, hey. That's a good idea." Shikaku smiled another goofy smile and jogged back toward his house. "Be right back!" He called over his shoulder. "Wait here!"

"It's weird to see you act like that around someone..." Selena's commented once Shikaku was out of earshot. Her commenting on that got annoying really fast. I know how hard I'd fallen for him, but she didn't need to point that out. "I can see how much you like him.." 'Like' is an understatement. "He probably likes you just as much.. maybe even loves you.. You should see the way he looks at you Saru. You're probably to busy keeping yourself from doing something dumb in front of him to notice the look in his eyes when he looks at you."

I had wondered why she was being so nice about it, and telling me all of this. "Well... What do you expect me to say to that?" She was right about me trying to keep myself from doing something dumb though.. It seemed I failed most of the time, to my dismay. Shikaku usually laughed, though...

"I was just telling you. Knowing you, you hadn't seen it at all.."

"So..." I crossed my arms, scowling. She knew me waaaay to well... The same went for her mother.

"Hey. Now you look like Ichigo." Shikaku was again beside me... smiling of course. When was he not smiling. Apparently I had been to absorbed in my own thoughts to hear Shikaku coming up beside me. Now I was wondering what all Shikaku had heard. How long had he been in earshot...?

Shiko was heading over beside Selena. Hah, and she said Shikaku had some love-struck look.. She should have seen Shiko... but I guess he just wasn't as outgoing as Shikaku was.. It would probably take a bit of time for things to pick up between them... If Shiko didn't ever make a move... Well.. I would just have to give fate a bit of a push, wouldn't I?

The four of us broke off into two separate conversations for the most part as we began to walk: Shikaku and I, then Selena and Shiko. It wasn't really unexpected though. I did hear Selena ask something about Bakaberry... Well, of course she used his name, Ichigo.. but I would have to call him Bakaberry next time I saw him. Both of the existing conversations were more or less, about random things... though I could hear Shiko asking Selena questions about her hobbies and favorite things. When he asked her what her favorite flower was, she said white rose... I knew that, of course. It was painfully obvious what he was doing though.. and if Selena didn't notice it, well.. she isn't as smart as I though she was. Apparently, Shikaku was thinking along the same lines as I was... I looked at him to see him smirking somewhat; You didn't often see him smirk.

"Hey Saru.." Shikaku whispered to be. "I think he's finally trying to make a move...."

"I noticed that.." I replied quietly. I couldn't help but chuckle. He seemed a bit nervous, but confident enough to cover for his nerves. "He's not as outgoing as you are... but he's doing well enough.." I had still been looking at Shikaku while we were walking, and hadn't noticed that Selena had stopped until I ran into her from behind.

"Hey Selena.. What the-?" Then I looked to where she was. Ahead of the four of us, the area was trashed; parts of the sidewalk were cracked, fences were shredded... and in the midst of the rubble.. it looked like there was someone lying on the ground.. face up. Blood had pooled around the body; I could see that much from here. The person looked frighteningly close to... to..

"It can't be.." Selena mumbled to herself. "I don't believe it..." Her voice was wavered as she shook her head rebelliously. She stood frozen for a moment, then ran ahead to the battered body lying on the sidewalk. I ran behind her, hearing Shiko and Shikaku's footsteps behind me. Selena was being stubborn and refused to believe it... but I knew who it was. When we had caught up, Selena's body was shaking with controlled sobs. She couldn't deny it, now that she was standing before his lifeless corpse. His left arm was twisted in an unnatural way; it was definitely broken. A piece of fence post protruded from his midsection. Blood ran from then right corner of his mouth, his clothes were torn, and in some places, there were deep lacerations.. and something that even looked like... a claw mark? How did-? A.. claw mark..? No, no. It couldn't have been one; wild animals really didn't live around here... they didn't live anywhere close to town. My stomach lurched, and I quickly put hand over my mouth. Blood and gore had never disgusted me, but that fact that my the man who had been my father for as far back as I could remember... Well, it was hard to bite back the bile that rose in my throat. I was surprised Selena hadn't reacted in the same way. She didn't have a very strong stomach. I vaguely heard Shiko and Shikaku gasp at the realization. It was..

"Dad.." A soft whisper escaped Selena's lips.. that one word. The only father I had ever known, and Selena's biological father.. was dead. It was obvious. His skin was pale, and his gray/blue eyes gazed blankly up at the sky. A milky film had already began formed over his irises. There was no rise and fall of his chest. My stomach lurched once again, but I managed to keep my last meal where it belonged. I thought I heard Shikaku ask me something.. He sounded concerned, but I didn't hear it. His voice sounded like nothing but a faint echo in the distance.

Taking a quick glance around, I didn't even see his spirit... Did that mean..? It couldn't have been a...? No.. It couldn't have been. As far as Selena and I knew, he couldn't even see them.. He couldn't have been lying.. could he? To double check, I took a more thorough look, scanning the surround area with my eyes.. Still.. no spirit-of-Takai.

"Saru..." Shikaku's voice shattered the frantic daze that clouded my mind. I was suddenly aware of Selena's muffled sobs. Glancing over to her blankly, I saw Shiko's arms wrapped tightly around her, her face buried in his chest. He was trying to calm her down. I didn't know if anyone had called anyone yet... but I wasn't in the state of mind to think about it more than that. I was also now aware of the silent tears streaking down my cheeks. I was.. crying, and it had taken me this long to notice... How long had I been crying..?

"Saru.." Shikaku's voice rang in my ears once again; it took time to register someone was speaking to me. I hardly realized he had turned me away from Takai's lifeless corpse.. and almost missed the fact he had pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly to his chest. I could hear the scream of sirens over some other strange noise. Apparently, one of them had called. Then I realized, the strange noises were my own, choked out sobs. It was like I had been detached from my body.. I had no control, and could only fight the sobs and lose. I wanted to be strong for Selena, yet I couldn't. I couldn't stop them.

In attempt to gain control of my body, I did simple things. I took a deep breath, trying to quiet the sobs that shook my body. The deep breath didn't suppress the sobs, but it did assure me I had control of my body. Then I buried my face in the crook of Shikaku's neck, trying to, in the very least, muffle the sobs. At least that had worked. I wished I could quiet them completely though. I didn't have the right to be this upset.. did I?

I vaguely remember hearing the murmur of voices, and the sirens' screeching cease.. I heard Shikaku say something quietly to whoever was speaking to him. He pulled me closer to him, protectively, I'm assuming. Maybe there was someone there.. someone like a cop or something... I didn't care though. I was too in shock; In shock of the fact Takai was dead.. and of the fact I had lost control of my body and emotions so easily. I... don't know how it happened... or how long I had been crying.. but it happened. Nothing would be the same... I knew that. If only I knew how different life would be after Takai's death.. how different our family would be...

--------------

A/N; Sorry about the slow updates. . Teh laziness is deadly. ~


	9. Author's note :D

**Author's note: Er, well, I understand that it has been quite some time since I've posted a new chapter, to any of you that actually read my story anyway. ^-^  
But, I am going to get on it, and post new stuff. :D First, I have to edit the first four or five chapters, though. -_-  
I have seriously come a long way since then, and need to give quality writing to satisfy anyone who still reads the crap I post, so after that is done, I will continue with new chapters. x3 So, until then my friend, I bid you adieu. :D**

**-bleachfan1994  
**


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